When is a banger a New Year’s Eve banger? Or to put it another way, what separates the best songs for New Year’s Eve events from the more routine party-starters you’d drop in any mid-year playlist? Many of you will be asking yourselves these questions as you sit in front of Spotify, wondering what music your intimate dinner party or wild house party needs to get it going until 00:01 on January 1, 2025—and beyond.
There are some general rules of thumb that come with making a playlist for any big occasion. Firstly, match that occasion. Don’t put drum and bass on when you’re having canapés and champagne. Secondly, respond to your audience. If the mood is getting a little listless, drop a stone-cold banger. If everyone is still enjoying the sitting-and-chatting phase of the evening, then keep things light. Relatedly, it’s always a nice idea to take (some) requests, particularly if it’s an intimate occasion. Just make sure you deal with any wannabe playlist-monopolizers politely but firmly.
Finally, don’t be too cool. The point of the evening is to have fun, not for you to show off your knowledge of Arabic funk deep cuts. Which brings us to the most important question: what makes the best songs for New Year’s Eve work as well as they do? They generally need to be celebratory and forward-looking—a musical booster rocket to launch you, full of glittery, boozy optimism, into the year ahead. And for a night as ritual-bound as New Year’s Eve, it’s no bad idea to lean on the classics, and tap into the accumulated vibes of all the New Year’s Eves that have come before. Depending on the kind of party, you might even want to introduce a little hint of melancholy – another year flying by can be a bittersweet feeling sometimes.
Here are our top suggestions. We’ve (almost) dodged “Auld Lang Syne,” but if you want to whack that on at midnight, we won’t blame you.
ABBA, “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)”
